Irakli Rukhadze, the owner of Imedi TV and a U.S. citizen, strongly dismissed the notion that the United States might impose sanctions on him, stating that the probability is lower than that of a meteor falling on him.
“America cannot use sanctions against me. There’s no precedent for the U.S. sanctioning one of its own citizens,” Rukhadze told journalists on June 5.
He emphasized that for sanctions to be applied, the U.S. legal system would first need to find him guilty of a crime through a full judicial process.
Rukhadze also expressed confidence that if he were ever sanctioned by the U.S., he would file a suit. He explained that sanctions are often difficult to contest legally because they are imposed by foreign governments, outside the target’s jurisdiction. However, he believes his U.S. citizenship offers him legal protection against such measures.
“Today, when a prosecutor, investigator, judge, and executioner becomes a single bureaucrat… they can just write a sanction from far away. But they can’t do this to me—I’m a U.S. citizen.”
Rukhadze added that he has already been sanctioned by some unspecified entities in Ukraine and the Baltic states, though he claims these measures have had no impact on his business operations.
“I don’t know who else could sanction me… It hasn’t affected my business at all.”
